Thank you for posting this Dave. This is one of the best articles I have seen on this. In particular it points out what I have been saying for nearly two years now.
In particular this paragraph
Signatures and stamps for the deed can easily be copied from online images of property records on Miami-Dade County Clerk's website.
Thieves and law enforcement have known for some time how easy it is to clip a signature and notary seal from the online images and paste it on to a bogus document.
Foolishly, county officials have been buying million dollar software that is designed to extract Social Security numbers. They are aiming at the wrong target and missing by a wide margin. Thieves don't need a Social Security number, or a Driver's Licence, to steal your home. All they need is the signature and notary seal the counties provide on their Websites.
The FBI has called deed fraud an epidemic in this country. The epidemic isn't going to subside until local and state government realize they are facilitating the crime with their websites.
This isn't just a problem in Florida. It is happening everywhere that county government provides the images online. I reported a similar case in Texas last year in Clip-Clip, Paste-Paste and Their Home Was His
How do the counties react? They spend millions on redaction software in a failed attempt to remove social security numbers in the documents.
What a hoot! It's like finding a bear in your front yard and running to the back yard to shoot a squirrel.
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